In their natural habitat, adult American dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis) are able to survive heavy rainfall, floods, snow and ice cover for prolonged periods of time during their off-host fasting stages. Laboratory studies have further demonstrated that unfed adults can survive up to 3 weeks submerged in water. This study proposes that survival under conditions of hypoxia and anoxia in D. variabilis is due to the utilization of anaerobic metabolism. Lactate production was used as an indicator of anaerobic metabolism in unfed female ticks submerged in water for 1,3, 5, and 7 days, and in ticks exposed to pure nitrogen gas for durations ranging from 6h to 24h. Under normoxic conditions, ticks have relatively high concentrations of lactate per gram fresh weight compared to similar studies in other arthropods, indicating D. variabilis may utilize anaerobic metabolism regardless of oxygen availability. However, experimental results show no significant increase in lactate production over intervals of oxygen stress. These findings indicate that D. variabilis does not rely on anaerobic metabolism for survival under conditions of hypoxia and anoxia and may be using another mechanism such as metabolic depression for survival.